US Indymedia Centers

Whatever our disagreements about priorities, strategy, organization and more, the one thing all anarchists can agree on is that hierarchies suck. Any organizational structure that privileges a handful of unaccountable leaders to make unilateral decisions for an entire group will be unhesitatingly condemned by virtually anybody who calls herself an antiauthoritarian. Yet fewer of us realize that in addition to being inherently oppressive, hierarchies don't work very well. In spite of the enormous amount of evidence of the inefficiency of bureaucracies, many anarchists seem to believe that corporate and governmental organizations are nearly invulnerable.

TALON(Threat and Local Observation Notice) was a program ostensibly created to track the activities of those deemed potential terrorist threats. The aim was to gather loads of raw, unfiltered data from citizen reports, and use it to stop disruptive or violent activity. The TALON program grew out of Eagle Eyes, a program created by the Air Force Office of Special Investigation that called on the denizens of each air force base to keep an eye on their scheming neighbors and report suspicious activity. TALON was essentially the same thing, but it was run under the Department of Defense, and so was no longer specific to Air Force bases, and it required hundreds of people and more than a billion dollars to collect and catalog the thousands of reports they received every year. While it existed, if you had reason to believe someone was involved in any activity you deemed “suspicious,” you could call the toll free number, 1800-CALL-SPY, and leave an anonymous, unverified voicemail for the Pentagon. Like many government programs created in response to 9/11, it attacked our personal freedoms and instilled anxiety and distrust in many people. This is the program they’re going to revive.

On September 24th, 2001, less than two weeks after the September 11th attacks, this brief statement (below) entitled “No War Against Nations, No Peace Between Classes,” announced the formation of the Boston Anarchists Against Militarism (BAAM):

“In response to the impending military aggression of the United States, a number of class struggle anarchists have come together to form the Boston Anarchists Against Militarism (BAAM!) coalition. BAAM is opposed to nationalism, racism, and war hysteria, and is organizing against the current war efforts. For more information on how to get involved...”

Filipino migrant teachers in Louisiana today (August 5, US Central Time) filed a class lawsuit against Universal Placement International (UPI) and its Philippine based partner, PARS International for various offenses ranging from racketeering, human trafficking, extortion and mail and wire fraud.